So wait until they are discontinued. PS4 will surely squeeze out 10mio more next year with good deals. Xbox can do surely 5mio and and the switch should also get at at least 15 mio with the new models coming.

And then we still have 2021 which surely will see a decline form PS4 and XBO but the switch still should go strong so add another 20mio and we are really closing in on the final numbers.

Also PS3 and 360 are tainted with ROD and YLODs early on. I count for 3x 360s alone. And I have 2 PS3 also

So wait until they are discontinued. PS4 will surely squeeze out 10mio more next year with good deals. Xbox can do surely 5mio and and the switch should also get at at least 15 mio with the new models coming.

And then we still have 2021 which surely will see a decline form PS4 and XBO but the switch still should go strong so add another 20mio and we are really closing in on the final numbers.

Also PS3 and 360 are tainted with ROD and YLODs early on. I count for 3x 360s alone. And I have 2 PS3 also

Don't blame gamers for passing on the WIIU and Xbox One. Blame those companies for not giving us a reason to buy their products. Sony seemingly doesn't have a problem keeping a healthy fanbase for their home console releases. The real question to ask is: What is Sony doing to keep at least 87-100 million gamers coming back compared to what Microsoft and Nintendo is doing?

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Don't blame gamers for passing on the WIIU and Xbox One. Blame those companies for not giving us a reason to buy their products. Sony seemingly doesn't have a problem keeping a healthy fanbase for their home console releases. The real question to ask is: What is Sony doing to keep at least 87-100 million gamers coming back compared to what Microsoft and Nintendo is doing?

Neo Member

I Think that poor console choices from Nintendo and especially Microsoft ‘damaged’ this gen. possibly even encouraged gamers to move or flock to the only console getting good word of mouth. Or away to the world of the ‘gaming pc’

As to if the market contracted or not, only time will tell. but I also think console prices for most of the gen have cut down on the number of 2 or even 3 console homes, less failures (I had over 6 Xbox 360s, some failed within days of swapping for new !!!) and software as a service will play a part in the final totals (why change console brand, you still have loads of ‘free’ games to play)

Overall once the dust settles, my own thoughts are round about the same, perhaps as much as 3-5 million either side

Just tales from my a$$, but at times it has been like console manufacturers don’t want my money !!!

Who said they were infallible? So getting to 100 million faster than any other console means they are not strong? Like I said, you probably need to be asking what can the other console makers do to keep that type of retention each generation. Lol at the "if Sony was stronger they would be selling at 120 because reasons."

Member

Who said they were infallible? So getting to 100 million faster than any other console means they are not strong? Like I said, you probably need to be asking what can the other console makers do to keep that type of retention each generation. Lol at the "if Sony was stronger they would be selling at 120 because reasons."

Member

I feel like I remember arguing with someone over this when I said we were seeing less overall consoles sold.

But there are a ton of factors. One of which is that console prices never came down this gen. We still have $400-level consoles and we're 6 years in. Previous generations didn't have full priced consoles in year 6.

Patient MembeR

Uhh, your numbers are off. Switch is 9th gen, so the numbers are even worse.

Blame PS4. It consolidated a lot of the "hardcore" gamers on to one console. I could be mistaken, but I think multi-console ownership is down this generation. Last gen was inflated from multi-console ownership. Remember Wii60 and PSWii arguments (which one was the better pair)? I bought a 360 early in the gen and later switched to PS3. I also re-bought a 360 early in the gen because lol Red Ring.

Member

Uhh, your numbers are off. Switch is 9th gen, so the numbers are even worse.

Blame PS4. It consolidated a lot of the "hardcore" gamers on to one console. I could be mistaken, but I think multi-console ownership is down this generation. Last gen was inflated from multi-console ownership. Remember Wii60 and PSWii arguments (which one was the better pair)? I bought a 360 early in the gen and later switched to PS3. I also re-bought a 360 early in the gen because lol Red Ring.

Switch makes no sense as a 9th gen system. Its Nintendo's do over 8th gen since WiiU did so badly they had to start over from scratch mid generation.

As well as the Switch is selling, the strongest likelihood given Nintendo's past systems typical sales is that it will have sold the bulk of it's units before the PS5 and Xbox Two hit the market. Saying it's not part of the same sales generation is just silly and gives individual systems greater importance than the market they have to sell in.

Patient MembeR

Switch makes no sense as a 9th gen system. Its Nintendo's do over 8th gen since WiiU did so badly they had to start over from scratch mid generation.

As well as the Switch is selling, the strongest likelihood given Nintendo's past systems typical sales is that it will have sold the bulk of it's units before the PS5 and Xbox Two hit the market. Saying it's not part of the same sales generation is just silly and gives individual systems greater importance than the market they have to sell in.

I don't want to derail the thread, but Switch is 9th gen. It launched more than 4 years after the Wii U, it succeeds two 8th gen consoles (3DS and Wii U), and it has its own branding, its own library, etc. Not that it's a super important distinction, but I don't know why the generational shift gets ignored just because Nintendo was first to market with their next-gen offering.

If Switch is 8th gen, then the Game Boy Color + Game Boy Advance are the same generation as well as the Xbox + 360, based on the proximity of release dates.

Member

I don't want to derail the thread, but Switch is 9th gen. It launched more than 4 years after the Wii U, it succeeds two 8th gen consoles (3DS and Wii U), and it has its own branding, its own library, etc. Not that it's a super important distinction, but I don't know why the generational shift gets ignored just because Nintendo was first to market with their next-gen offering.

If Switch is 8th gen, then the Game Boy Color + Game Boy Advance are the same generation as well as the Xbox + 360, based on the proximity of release dates.

Console gens have never been about when you released your last system, but about the wider market, the bulk of sales/players, each systems relative competition, and what games are being sold concurrently across multiple platforms.

That puts the Switch squarely in 8th gen, playing 8th gen games, competing with 8th gen systems and most probably making the bulk of its sales in competition with 8th gen alternatives.

This isnt even the first time this has happened. Atari had 2 consoles in 2nd gen with both the 2600 and 5200. Just because Nintendo buggered up so badly with the WiiU it had to call a do over doesnt mean the Switch suddenly exists outside the context of the wider market and that it's competitors don't exist yet.

I mean when the PS5 and Xbox Two come out, are you really going to claim they're the Switch's contemporaries? And that the inevitable Switch 2 (or whatever) is actually 10th gen? It's just ridiculous, and accredits Nintendo with far more influence than they actually have.

Member

Wii captured a different marker. This gen we have more traditional consoles, and their reliability is a lot higher; most people I know who owned a 360 bought more than one due to them breaking down (other issues than just RROD and before MS extended warranty). This gen people might upgrade but it's not a necessity.

What I'm saying is last gen figures were inflated IMO and it was a long ass gen.

Going forward, I think it will depend on the actual reasons for this shrinkage.

While we can agree that way less consoles were sold, we'd need a really deep exploration of a few factors to come to a good answer regarding why.

Could be that an unsatisfactory PS3 could have led to more people buying an XBox too and with the Wii being a bit "out there" in terms of what it was offering people may have seen that as something to pick up to play alongside a main console.

This Gen PS4 has dominated and so I would imaging that the number of people buying both PS and XBox has gone down and the Wii U was just a disaster all round (except for the good games). It's only since the Switch arrived that you see more people again talking about having a main console and a Switch on the side.

I wonder also if the decline of places like EB Games and Gamestop (are they the same thing actually?) could be a factor also. I'd guess that you may have had a lot of people getting new consoles from these stores thinking they can trade it in later and as a result you could have people buying the same console multiple times over a generation. Or folks trading in a PS3 for a brand new Xbox etc. With those stores being gone or less appealing you may have less people actually buying consoles.

I wonder if is PC gaming on the rise and by how much. Xbox always seemed like it could be a good "gateway" into PC Gaming since you don't get the PlayStation exclusives with either and people might think to just make the move to PC. That's going to be even more pronounced as Game Pass goes to PC.

No idea how well Stadia will do but that could have an impact also. I am sure there are many people who bought a PS4 but the console sits basically unused. Those folks could be more inclined to go with something like Stadia in the future.

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Member

There's also the significant detail that Sony sold a ton of PS2's during the same chronological period as what is generally considered "last generation". Remember PS2 actually took longer than PS4 to hit 100million, and that's only around 2/3rds of its final tally.

Patient MembeR

There's also the significant detail that Sony sold a ton of PS2's during the same chronological period as what is generally considered "last generation". Remember PS2 actually took longer than PS4 to hit 100million, and that's only around 2/3rds of its final tally.

Member

If you look at it from Playstation and Xbox angle, 360 and PS3 sold about 160mil in 8+ years. PS4 and XB1 have sold about 140mil in less than 6 years, and will probably match, or even exceed PS3/360 by the time the consoles are dropped.
Wii was an anomoly that brought in a lot of none gamers, soccer mums and grandmas playing WiiFit etc. The Wii skews the numbers a lot. All those none gamers Wii users went back to being none gamers, and its as simple as that.

Member

If you look at it from Playstation and Xbox angle, 360 and PS3 sold about 160mil in 8+ years. PS4 and XB1 have sold about 140mil in less than 6 years, and will probably match, or even exceed PS3/360 by the time the consoles are dropped.
Wii was an anomoly that brought in a lot of none gamers, soccer mums and grandmas playing WiiFit etc. The Wii skews the numbers a lot. All those none gamers Wii users went back to being none gamers, and its as simple as that.

Member

The Wii was a phenomenon, it sold like crazy and managed to attract a massive casual and non-"gamer" audience which no one targeted this gen. Soccer mom Karen who bought a Wii for her daughters to play Just Dance (and then got a Wii Fit she never used) wasn't going to run to the store to get a $399 Ps4 with a copy of Killzone.

The core market seems to be doing just as good if not better than last gen. I wouldn't be surprised if Ps4 + Xb1 sales combined are better than Ps3 + 360 sales by the time next gen launches.

Also, I might be wrong, but software sales seem up too. We are constantly hearing about games likes the Division having the biggest launch in Ubisoft history, or how Monster Hunter world is the best selling Capcom game ever or how God of War has been the fastes selling Sony game only to be beaten by Spiderman a few months later.

Nah!! Not only did Microsoft and Nintendo had terrible releases but last gen had a much longer lifespan. They were on the market for 8 years before nextgen was released. We are not even 6 years into this gen.

Also consider that the big three drank the “consoles are dead cool aid” and played it safe with this gen releasing underpowered consoles not a true step up forcing them to release midgen refresh and now new consoles in 2020.

Console market Is actually growing the gaming market is growing. Much more mainstream than it was during the last gen. I predict nextgen will be the highest selling gen of them all, probably surpassing gen 7 numbers!!

Aka many could have bought more than one console on last gen, but now only one(sony) = could still have the same amount of Gamers, but less consoles sold because MS/Nintendo released consoles that sell less than 360/wii